I woke with a start. It might have been my nervous imagination, but I could have sworn that I had just heard screams out on the deck. I shook my head, probably just my imagination, I told myself. The storm hadn't let up any over the night. If anything, it had gotten worse. The storm still pitched the boat, making my head spin.
I looked down at Emily, who was still sound asleep. I could hear her softly snoring. Then, as if she could feel my eyes on her, Emily snorted loudly and rolled over onto her stomach. I giggled and turned away, suddenly noticing Alaina wasn't in the spot she was sleeping in last night. I scanned the room for her, my gaze settled on her bright orange T-shirt. She better have been wearing something under that, I prayed.
I finally caught sight of her kneeling by the door. She was wearing a white kami. She seemed to be looking through a hole in the door. I shuddered as I remembered how that had got there. I had been about ten. I was bored and had somehow gotten a hold of one of my grandma's knitting needles. I had intended to carve my name in the door. I had only pushed the needle in slightly, when the door flew open and slammed me in the face. The needle had somehow managed to pass straight through the door. I rubbed the scar on my chin, remembering how dad had had to super glue it.
"What are you doing," I asked, maybe a little too loud, so that she could hear me over the storm. She jumped about three feet off the ground. I fell back laughing like a hyena. I wiped a tear from my face when I could breathe again. "Did that scare you much," I asked, smirking.
She whipped around, then, half growled, and half screamed, "Thalia! DON'T DO THAT!" Emily's eyes snapped open; she jerked up and looked around, franticly. When she realized that nothing was wrong, she dropped back down like a sack of flower and mumbled, "You guys! I'm trying to sleep." Alaina and I ignored her.
"I scared you," I bragged, dancing around and pointing at her like a little kid.
Alaina's face turned cherry red, "Did not."
"Did too"
"Did not"
"Did too"
"Not"
"Too"
"Oh my freakin' god! SHUT UP," Emily screamed, "No one cares!" Alaina and I stuck our tongues out at the crabby, crazy haired, blood shot-eyed girl.
Then, Alaina abruptly seemed to remember what she was doing. She turned back and continued to stare out the hole. "Okay. Again, what are you doing," I questioned, puzzled.
This time she answered, "I'm trying to see if there is anyone still on board. I heard screaming a while ago. So, I figured I'd better check it out. Haven't seen anything though."
All at once, it was like someone had punched me in the gut. I realized my parents weren't anywhere to be seen. The screaming I had heard was them. That was the only possibility. Mom and dad refused to hire anyone to sail our sip, even going on week long trips, so it couldn't have been anyone else. (I couldn't blame them though, you never know if you can trust those people or not)
I buried my face in my hands and started sobbing. I clutched the little gold heart locket, engraved with little intricate swirl patterns all over the front and back, that that always hung from around my neck. Emily came fusing as well as she could with the boat tossing us to and fro. "Thalia! Are you okay? What's wrong. Come on, please, please don't cry," Emily begged, fear filled her voice.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Emily in front of me, concern filling her eyes. I pulled my knees to my chest. Swallowing back another sob, I managed to choke out, "My parents."
Emily gasped, "oh my gosh." She hugged me, "Oh, Thalia….. I'm so sorry, Thalia." I forced a smile and wiped my cheeks.
"It's not your fault. There's nothing we could have done," I replied quietly.
Out of the blue, Alaina gasped. "Everyone down," she hollered, "Grab onto something!" Before we could react, she jumped on top of us. I didn't have time to yell at her because a second later, a massive wave pummeled the boat.
I was thrown into the wall, again, but this time hitting my head on the thick, wood trim. Emily was tossed head over heels into a dresser. She yelped in pain as her hip connected with the edge of it. Alaina rolled, log style, to the wall. Unfortunately, she chose the spot with a loose shelf. The shelf fell; ricocheting off her knee then flipped up and smacked her in the bridge of the nose.
We had just began to recover when another monster wave struck, followed by another, and another. The boat couldn't take much more, then as if to confirm my suspicion, the boat groaned and cracked. Water started seeping in, and in no time at all, the water had reached up to our waists. As the next wave hit, the boat was reduced to chunks of wood, and various belongings.
I caught sight of a pink stuffed toy. It was the stuffed pig I had had since birth, I reached for it, but it was pushed under water by another wave. I glimpsed Emily thrashing around, trying to get away, and Alaina, who had somehow managed to snag an inflatable orange life raft, trying vigorously to pull the cord that blows up the raft.
I was pulled under by yet another wave my hair floated around me like a big sheet of cloth. I swam back up to the surface, only to be shoved under again. I couldn't breathe, my lungs screamed for air. I couldn't hold my breath much longer. I got back to the surface and tried to inhale, but another wave engulfed me, causing me to gulp down a gallon of fishy salt water. I felt helpless, I knew I was drowning; all I could see was the dark murky water and chunks of the boat. Then I blacked out.
